Ramya
Decent burial of dead bodies and crimes against the corpse are the two facets of the rights available to a dead person. Under the umbrella of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the right to have a decent burial and the right to human dignity for the dead are protected.
Furthermore, Section 297 of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) ,1860 clearly provides that whosoever with the intention of wounding the feelings of person by not allowing them to perform any funeral rites or causing indignity to any human corpse or causing disturbance to any persons assembles for the funeral ceremonies shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or both.
In Gopal Chandra Choudhury And Ors v. The State, the father of a 5 year old girl will be disturbed while performing the cremation of his daughter. This led to conviction under section 297 of the IPC as it wounded the feelings of the father.
In the case of (late) Dr. Simon Hercules, a doctor in Tamil Nadu was denied the right of burial since he passed away due to Covid-19. Similar incidents happened throughout the nation wherein social stigma associated with Covid-19 made people forget the right to decent burial. Later a Public Interest Litigation was filed and the Madras High Court has directed that Covid-19 Victims should also be given a decent burial.
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